Topic Editors

Materials & Process Engineering, UCLouvain, Place Sainte Barbe 2, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F-Bus 02423, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium

New Advances in Membrane Technology and Its Contribution to Sustainability

Abstract submission deadline
25 February 2026
Manuscript submission deadline
25 April 2026
Viewed by
4357

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, humanity is facing diverse challenges that seem to question the way in which we are living: global warming, water pollution and water scarcity, resource depletion, social inequalities, loss of biodiversity, etc. Those challenges have been grouped according to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. They are an urgent call for action in a global partnership, recognizing that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth—all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests (UN, 2015).

In this context, the development of technological alternatives to current processes must consider the SDGs as part of the key objectives. Membrane technology has an enormous potential for providing solutions in the same line as the SDGs, given the fact that it normally involves lower energy consumption that current alternatives or less use of resources. But is this real? Can we prove that membranes are really a better solution? Have we thought of aspects such as the environmental impact of membrane manufacture, their carbon and water footprint during their operation, or their end of life (membrane waste)? And what about their further large-scale application? Why are many membrane processes failing during scaling-up? As membranologists, we need an overall understanding and overview of the implications of developing new membranes and new membrane processes. Only in this way will we be able to provide real solutions to the big challenges that we are facing.

Thus, in this Topic, we aim at showing the potential contribution of membrane technology to the SDGs, or, in other words, the advances in SDGs that can be made thanks to membranes. Prof. Bart Van der Bruggen Prof. Patricia Luis Alconero Topic Editors

Prof. Dr. Patricia Luis Alconero
Prof. Dr. Bart Van der Bruggen
Topic Editors

Keywords

  • membranes
  • Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • water
  • energy
  • innovation
  • industry
  • life cycle assessment

Participating Journals

Journal Name Impact Factor CiteScore Launched Year First Decision (median) APC
Applied Sciences
applsci
2.5 5.3 2011 18.4 Days CHF 2400 Submit
Clean Technologies
cleantechnol
4.1 6.1 2019 33.5 Days CHF 1600 Submit
Energies
energies
3.0 6.2 2008 16.8 Days CHF 2600 Submit
Membranes
membranes
3.3 6.1 2011 14.9 Days CHF 2200 Submit
Polymers
polymers
4.7 8.0 2009 14.5 Days CHF 2700 Submit
Sustainability
sustainability
3.3 6.8 2009 19.7 Days CHF 2400 Submit
Water
water
3.0 5.8 2009 17.5 Days CHF 2600 Submit

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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26 pages, 1509 KiB  
Review
The State of the Art on PVDF Membrane Preparation for Membrane Distillation and Membrane Crystallization: Towards the Use of Non-Toxic Solvents
by Aqsa Mansoor Khan, Francesca Russo, Francesca Macedonio, Alessandra Criscuoli, Efrem Curcio and Alberto Figoli
Membranes 2025, 15(4), 117; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15040117 - 8 Apr 2025
Viewed by 563
Abstract
Most parts of the earth are covered with water, but only 0.3% of it is available to living beings. Industrial growth, fast urbanization, and poor water management have badly affected the water quality. In recent years, a transition has been seen from the [...] Read more.
Most parts of the earth are covered with water, but only 0.3% of it is available to living beings. Industrial growth, fast urbanization, and poor water management have badly affected the water quality. In recent years, a transition has been seen from the traditional (physical, chemical) wastewater treatment methods towards a greener, sustainable, and scalable membrane technology. Even though membrane technology offers a green pathway to address the wastewater treatment issue on a larger scale, the fabrication of polymeric membranes from toxic solvents is an obstacle in making it a fully green method. The concept of green chemistry has encouraged scientists to engage in research for new biodegradable and non-protic solvents to replace with already existing toxic ones. This review outlines the use of non-toxic solvents for the preparation of PVDF membranes and their application in membrane distillation and membrane crystallization. Full article
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21 pages, 5698 KiB  
Review
Water–Energy Nexus: Membrane Engineering Towards a Sustainable Development
by Alessandra Criscuoli
Membranes 2025, 15(4), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15040098 - 26 Mar 2025
Viewed by 378
Abstract
Sustainable development is linked to the achievement of several different objectives, as outlined by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations. Among them are the production of clean water and the combat of climate change, which is strictly linked [...] Read more.
Sustainable development is linked to the achievement of several different objectives, as outlined by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations. Among them are the production of clean water and the combat of climate change, which is strictly linked to the use of fossil fuels as a primary energy source and their related CO2 emissions. Water and energy are strongly interconnected. For instance, when processing water, energy is needed to pump, treat, heat/cool, and deliver water. Membrane operations for water treatment/desalination contribute to the recovery of purified/fresh water and reducing the environmental impact of waste streams. However, to be sustainable, water recovery must not be energy intensive. In this respect, this contribution aims to illustrate the state of the art and perspectives in desalination by reverse osmosis (RO), discussing the various approaches looking to improve the energy efficiency of this process. In particular, the coupling of RO with other membrane operations, like pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO), reverse electrodialysis (RED), and forward osmosis (FO), as well as the osmotic-assisted reverse osmosis (OARO) system, are reported. Moreover, the possibility of coupling a membrane distillation (MD) unit to an RO one to increase the overall freshwater recovery factor and reduce the brine volumes that are disposed is also discussed. Specific emphasis is placed on the strategies being applied to reduce the MD thermal energy demand, so as to couple the production of the blue gold with the fight against climate change. Full article
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17 pages, 7564 KiB  
Article
Lignin Purification from Mild Alkaline Sugarcane Extract via Membrane Filtration
by Nga Thi-Thanh Pham, Nicolas Beaufils, Jérôme Peydecastaing, Philippe Behra and Pierre-Yves Pontalier
Clean Technol. 2024, 6(2), 750-766; https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol6020038 - 12 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1503
Abstract
In this study, the separation of lignin from a mild alkaline sugarcane bagasse extract was studied, and the impacts of different parameters on the filtration performance were evaluated. The tested parameters included transmembrane pressure (0.5–3.0 bar), shear rates (2831–22,696 s−1), temperature [...] Read more.
In this study, the separation of lignin from a mild alkaline sugarcane bagasse extract was studied, and the impacts of different parameters on the filtration performance were evaluated. The tested parameters included transmembrane pressure (0.5–3.0 bar), shear rates (2831–22,696 s−1), temperature (20 and 40 °C), membrane molecular weight cut-off (5 and 10 kDa), and membrane material (polyethersulfone and polysulfone). During the filtration process, the permeate flux and all the main components of the extract were analyzed, including lignins (acid insoluble lignin and acid soluble lignin), sugars (xylose, arabinose, glucose, and galactose), total phenolic compounds, and phenolic acids (p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, vanillin, and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde). It was proved that the tested conditions had a great impact on the permeate flux and molecule retention rate. Increasing the temperature from 20 to 40 °C resulted in a much higher permeate flux for the 5 kDa PES membrane, and the impact of shear rate was greater at 40 °C for this membrane. Although the 5 kDa PES membrane could retain slightly more large molecules, i.e., acid-insoluble lignin and xylose, the 10 kDa membrane afforded greater phenolic acid removal capacity, leading to higher purity. For the 10 kDa PS membrane, the polarization layer began to form at TMP below 0.5 bar. This membrane had a lower retention rate for all molecules than the 10 kDa PES membrane. Full article
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